Not Quite Valentines' Day
by aohatsu
Summary: shishido/ootori; shishido celebrates ootori's birthday late.


**not quite valentines' day**_  
shishido and ohtori _of _prince of tennis_

_shishido celebrates ootori's birthday late._

_

* * *

_

Ohtori Choutarou wasn't the type to give out false pretenses. He couldn't lie very well, and when he tried, he just wasn't good at it. He was just a little proud of that though. He was honest and sincere about everything he did or said--how rare was that in a thirteen-year-old, really?

It wasn't necessarily a choice, he had to admit. He was naturally polite, even when he was angry or tired--rarely would he raise his voice towards anyone. Well, except maybe his sister when she took to much time in the restroom.

That's not to say he liked everyone he was polite to however, which would give him an odd feeling if he thought about it too hard. (Sometimes, he'd end up thanking someone when he'd have rather kicked them.)

At the moment, he couldn't help but chastise himself for doing this. It went against his whole character to give into Mukahi-sempai when it was something like this. Really, it wasn't any of his business who Shishido-san (and Oshitari-sempai) were shopping for together so close to Valentines' Day; to Ohtori's birthday.

He felt guilty in the pit of his stomach, spying like this. He wondered how disappointed his mother would be if she found out. Maybe he was thinking too hard on it though--he did do that a lot, or so his father had told him a few times. But then, it was such an invasion of privacy--Ohtori wouldn't have liked it if Shishido-san had followed him around like this, without him knowing.

As they struggled to see through the rows of books, CDs and other things without being seen themselves, Mukahi-sempai quickly whispered towards him that Shishido-san was browsing through the cards meant for older brothers. Of course, Ohtori was somewhat surprised Shishido-san would be so thoughtful. He never would have imagined Shishido-san to get anything for anyone on Valentines' Day, not really, let alone his brother.

Ohtori smiled just a little bit as he watched Shishido-san scratch his head as he looked at a large blue card. He made a mental note to look at it before they left, so he could see what had made Shishido-san start laughing and Oshitari-sempai lift it away from Shishido-san, as if he was a child who'd gotten a hold of something breakable.

Shishido-san hit Oshitari-sempai in the arm and kept laughing as they both lingered in the cards section, looking at some of the--Ohtori could only imagine--amusing ones. Mukahi-sempai was groaning loudly enough that Ohtori tried ducking his head a little and lifted a finger to his lips to let out the ever-familiar signal for silence.

"They've been here forever!" Mukahi-sempai whispered at him, though Ohtori thought it almost resembled one of Shishido-sempai's soft (yet obviously annoyed) growls that he would let out on the court whenever Sakaki-sensei or Atobe-sempai abused their power just a little too much.

Ohtori didn't respond, but rather just watched the two boys they'd been trailing all the way from school. It had to have been about an hour. Ohtori was amazed they hadn't been seen yet. There'd been a moment at the train station where he'd thought that Shishido-san had definitely recognized his pale hair, but they'd been safe after all.

"Come on, Oshitari," he heard Shishido-san say as he grabbed Oshitar

i's arm to get him to move away from a section. Ohtori couldn't read what the label's were from so far away, but he had the suspicion that it was the actual romance ones, meant for Valentines' Day. Oshitari-sempai was into that, and Shishido-san… wasn't, at all.

They waited for the two to get to the counter--apparently they were in fact, buying something--before moving into isle of cards themselves. Ohtori searched the rows for that large blue card that Shishido-san had liked so much earlier. With a quiet, "Ah!" he grabbed it, noticing the feel of a velvety material underneath his fingers.

"Mukahi-sempai," he started, before suddenly being grabbed by the boy with that name. He dropped the card as he was dragged out of the store, likely still following the other two boys.

A last glance at the card on the ground, and then a sigh which meant it probably wasn't terribly more important than keeping sight of the two boys. Mukahi-sempai would never forgive him if he made him miss out on watching them buy presents for whoever they were.

Ohtori didn't particularly understand Mukahi-sempai's interest though. Wouldn't it just be their mothers? Or, in Shishido-san's apparent case, brothers? Family, certainly. That couldn't be within Mukahi-sempai's interest zone, could it?

Either way, he supposed he wouldn't be finding out unless he asked, and he wasn't quite sure he wanted to hear Mukahi-sempai's logic on it.

* * *

"Shishido-san!" Ohtori called, running after Shishido-san, almost tripping as Shishido stopped and turned to wait for him.

"Hey, Choutarou, watch it!" Shishido-san yelled out, but not very loudly actually, and Ohtori smiled sheepishly, catching himself. He'd been running a little too fast after all. His sister blamed it on his height, but Ohtori would stumble quite a bit if he wasn't paying attention to his footwork and he wasn't sure how his height had anything to do with it.

"In a rush? I said I'd wait for you, right? Stupid," Shishido-san said, but he had on a grin that Ohtori had to admit looked really good on the older--and shorter--male. He felt a little bit warmer now too, even though a cold wind was blowing, because Shishido-san had touched his shoulder just slightly when he'd caught up to him, maybe as a simple greeting--they'd just been in tennis practice together, so "Hello," wouldn't have made much sense--but still anything but simple to Ohtori.

"I know. I just felt like catching up to you quicker. Thanks for waiting," Ohtori murmured, somewhat wrestling within his own mind on whether he should make a gesture like that--just a small brush. Only it was too late now, and it'd seem weird, wouldn't it?

"I'm flattered," Shishido-san said, turning around to keep on walking now that Ohtori was with him. "Where we going anyway? No where expensive, right?"

Ohtori'd been extremely nervous when he'd asked him to go out with him after school the other day. It's not like he'd meant it as a date, or even for Valentines' Day--it was his birthday!--but it could easily have been taken that way. Ohtori had breathed in relief more than ever that day.

But it was Wednesday now, and he was fourteen, and Shishido-san was going to go out with him and they were going to have a good time, even if it wasn't really a date, like everyone else had been teasing them about all day. Defending yourself against a rumor Mukahi-sempai came up with was a difficult task.

Even Jirou-sempai had woken up and asked if Ohtori had made sure to remember to buy Shishido-san chocolate. (Which he had done, actually, but it was a symbol of friendship, nothing else. Lots of people gave little things to their friends on holidays, and Shishido-san was his best friend, so it made sense, really.)

"Shishido-san, I'm paying, so it doesn't matter. You'll never see the bill." That earned him a glare, but Ohtori knew Shishido-san wouldn't stop him. It was his birthday, so what would be the harm in going to his favorite restaurant? Even if it was around ¥30,000 per person. It wasn't even very expensive in Ohtori's terms, but Shishido-san had gotten mad the last time the team had gone--it had been too expensive he'd said (and Atobe had ended up paying for everyone, simply to save Shishido-san the embarrassment, though Ohtori didn't think it had helped in that aspect). Better things to spend ¥50,000 on, he had said, scowling.

"You're so lame when you do that, you know?"

An elderly woman seated them at Ohtori's favorite table--he'd requested it. There was an absolutely beautiful view of the Tokyo streets and buildings, not to mention the sky, which had a lovely sunset going on. When they were inside like they were, they couldn't even tell how windy and cold it was outside.

Shishido-san was fidgeting in his chair, looking around at the people in the large area rather than the tall buildings outside. "Shishido-san, is this okay?"

It was his favorite restaurant, but if Shishido-san was really that uncomfortable there, they could go somewhere else that Shishido-san would prefer. Ohtori didn't mind, really.

"Nah, it's just… you could have told me. I'd have worn something nicer, or something." Shishido-san was just wearing a pair of jeans and a yellow t-shirt, while Ohtori had actually put on something more conservative knowing where they'd be going. Oh, he should have warned Shishido-san, but he hadn't even thought about the possibility that Shishido-san would have wanted to dress up.

Now that they were in the restaurant, Ohtori winced at his own stupidity. Of course Shishido-san would want to wear something other than jeans (especially jeans with holes in them) to a place like this.

"I'm sorry. We can go somewhere else, if you'd like." Ohtori started to lift himself out of his seat, but Shishido-san just shook his head and said a curt, "No, here is good."

Ohtori sat back down and fidgeted himself now, as a waiter came over to ask them what they'd like to have. After a moment or two of instructing Shishido-san how to say, "apéritif", Ohtori was designated as the one to order for the both of them.

"This place is still crazy nice, Choutarou. I think it was less overwhelming when there were nine of us here."

Ohtori nodded, "The first time I came here, it was just me and my father. It was a bit scary, since it was so large. Not to mention I'd thought that the language my father ordered our meals in was from little green aliens. I'd been scared to eat until I was reassured that it was actually French."

Shishido-san laughed, "Little green aliens? And here I figured you were the type of kid who never watched anime."

"I did! I got in trouble when I'd turn on my TV in the middle of the night even."

"You're so lying. Seriously?"

"Yeah. My father disconnected the wires after the first three times I got caught," Ohtori laughed out as their food suddenly appeared, waiter in toe.

Shishido looked at the food questionably, but shrugged as Ohtori said the familiar phrase of 'Itadakimasu' and repeated it before taking a bite of the more green part of his plate.

"You so owe me a cheese sandwich next time we go out," Shishido-san grimaced.

"It just takes time to get used to it," Ohtori assured him. "It's an acquired taste."

"Yeah, well, I don't plan on acquiring it too soon," Shishido-san assured him back, before noticing Ohtori looking downcast, "It's fine! Don't go guilty on me now, Choutarou."

Ohtori nodded, even though he really was wishing he'd just taken Shishido-san somewhere else. In somewhat of an attempt to save the night from chaos and ruin, Ohtori leaned down and pulled out a little box from his backpack--the one with a piece of chocolate in it. (Good chocolate too, Ohtori had made sure.)

"Ah, Shishido-san… I sort of, um, got this for you," is what Ohtori hurriedly mumbled out as he held it out in both his hands over the table, which was actually rather rude, but he couldn't move until Shishido-san took the box now. His face felt rather warm now. Had they turned the heat up?

Shishido-san cocked his head to the side and grabbed the box gently, asking, "What for? It's your birthday, remember?"

And his face still continued to get warmer. Maybe their entire heater was broken, or something along those lines?

"Ah, yes, well, it's Valentines' Day too, after all, and you're my best friend so I thought it would be fine and I'd found it and thought you'd like it, so, it just… seemed fine," Ohtori rushed out of his mouth, nodding as if Shishido-san had asked, "Oh, really?" when he hadn't just yet responded at all.

"Uh… okay. Yeah. Thanks, Choutarou," Shishido-san muttered, moving a hand back behind his head to scratch at it like he did when he was in a moment where he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. (Ohtori'd seen a lot of Shishido-san's personal habits by now.)

He didn't open it right away though, but instead moved to start digging through his own bag, and Ohtori could only imagine it was to give him his birthday present. Ohtori had mentioned that he didn't expect one, but Shishido-san's reply had been exactly, "Do I care?"

"Here," Shishido-san said, lifting his hand to toss a little wrapped gift at him. "Happy birthday, Choutarou."

* * *

It was when they were walking home that Ohtori accidentally mentioned that he hadn't thought Shishido-san had bought the blue card he'd been looking at the other day. It had been in his gift, after all. The cover was a picture of a fuzzy blue picture of Tokyo and read, 'For so few years,' and when you opened it up, there was a picture of an extremely tall skyscraper, 'you sure are tall!'

Ohtori laughed when he finally got to read it. It was actually… really lame, and somewhat dorky and maybe even kind of dumb. But it was just so amusing that Shishido-san had bought it for him, and had laughed out loud at it in the store when Mukahi-sempai and Ohtori had followed him and Oshitari-sempai shopping that one day.

"What do you mean?" Shishido-san asked, giving him with a funny look.

"I hadn't been expecting--It's just so ironic, I suppose. I mean--never mind." Ohtori shut up, realizing he wasn't making much sense and would end up telling Shishido-san he'd followed him soon if he wasn't careful.

"You're weird, kid," Shishido-san said, grabbing the blue cap on his head before placing it down on top of Ohtori's much paler hair. Ohtori's eyes widened for a moment, and he opened his mouth to ask Shishido what he was doing only the older boy beat him to the punch, "I just felt like it. You can have it tonight. I want it back tomorrow though, 'kay?"

Ohtori wouldn't admit it out loud, but he felt like butterflies were exploding in his stomach, which really probably wasn't a good thing. He couldn't even reply with an, "Okay," instead just nodding as they walked into the train station, both of them having to get on separate ones to reach their own home destinations.

Right before they parted though, Shishido-san reached up and brushed something off of Ohtori's face, most likely a piece of dirt, and Ohtori couldn't quite get his heart to stop with the ballet performance going on inside of him.

He decided that he might have a slight problem.

He really wanted Shishido-san to touch his face like that again.

* * *

"So, how was the date, Ohtori?" Mukahi-sempai asked, leaning across the table that he and Ohtori were sitting at, waiting for a few of the others.

"It wasn't a date, Mukahi-sempai… But it went well, thanks."

"Did you kiss Shishido then? I hear he's a good kiss--" Mukahi-sempai was abruptly cut off by Shishido-san pushing him off the chair he was on, then proceeding to take it.

"Another word and I swear Atobe is finding out about what you did last week, after practice, got it?" Shishido-san said, taking a bite of his sandwich before saying hi to Ohtori, mouth full. Mukahi-sempai grumbled and stole Shishido-san's hat as he got up, sitting down across from Ohtori instead of next to him.

"Hey! Give it back!" Shishido-san argued as soon as he swallowed what he'd been chewing.

"As if! Tell me what you did on the date and I'll give it back." Ohtori opened his mouth to protest again, only Oshitari-sempai came by and took the hat from Mukahi-sempai easily.

"Gakuto, be nice now. They're still new to this, after all." He held out the hat which Shishido-san grabbed immediately, pulling it back forcefully.

"Control your girlfriend a bit better, will you, Oshitari?"

* * *

"Hey, kid! Some guy's on the phone for you," Minako, Ohtori's older sister, yelled out loudly so that Ohtori could hear her all the way upstairs in the piano room. He stopped playing and reached for the phone on the nearby counter, putting it to his ear and saying, "Hello?"

"Hey, Choutarou," came the familiar voice and Ohtori's spirits instantly went up.

"Shishido-san!"

"Woah, excited to hear from me? Look, I, uh… yeah. Wanna' head to the street courts? We could use some more practice, you know?"

"Um, sure, Shishido-san." It was probably too late now, and he was supposed to be practicing a piece on the piano but… "I'll meet you there in twenty minutes, alright, Shishido-san?"

"Sounds good."

* * *

When Ohtori got to the courts, Shishido-san was already practicing, hitting a ball back and forth between himself and a wall. Ohtori called out to him, making Shishido-san accidentally miss the ball so that it went flying past him--and towards Ohtori. He picked it up and grinned, setting his bag down as he got out his tennis racket.

"That was your fault," Shishido-san said to him as he walked over towards Ohtori.

Ohtori shook his head, "You can't be surprised enough to miss when someone yells at you, Shishido-san." Ohtori was sure though, that if Shishido-san had yelled at him, his ball would have gone astray as well.

"Yeah, well…"

They played against each other for a while, and Ohtori would cringe just a little every time he said those words, Ikkyu Nyuu Kon!, because even from on the other side of the court, he could see Shishido-san do the exact same. He doubted that the boy realized he did it--it didn't even affect his game play. Shishido-san wouldn't like to be told though, he was sure, so Ohtori never said anything about it.

"Damn, Choutarou. I think it got faster. How the hell did it get faster so quick? You must just be having a good day," Shishido-san half-growled, half-sighed, falling backwards to lay fully on the court, somewhat resembling Jirou-sempai when he fell asleep during a match.

Ohtori got down on his knees next to him, grinning despite himself. "Do you really think it might have gotten faster? I've been working on my speed, now that my control is better."

"Yeah, yeah. Your head's getting big, you know. Quit talking to Mukahi so much. He's probably bad for your health."

Ohtori had to laugh, "Maybe."

Shishido groaned as he used his arm to leverage his body up into a sitting position, legs still spread out on the ground. "Hey, wanna' go get some ice cream? I've been craving it lately."

Ohtori nodded, noticing that at some point during the match, Shishido-san must have started chewing his favorite gum--he hadn't been before they'd started, but Ohtori could see glimpses of it as Shishido-san spoke with him like he was.

He probably shouldn't have noticed things like that.

Then again, who wouldn't notice when their partner was chewing gum? Ohtori was reading to far into things again. He needed to rid himself of that habit before it dragged him into hot water.

"Uh, vanilla cone? Hey, Choutarou, what're you wanting?" Shishido-san asked, pulling out his wallet to pay.

"The same. Shishido-san, I can pay for--"

"Shut up. I already have my wallet out, okay? Besides, you spent how much last Wednesday? I can afford a few hundred yen." Shishido-san smiled a little at him, to make sure Ohtori was going to try and pull a fast one, before turning back to the woman over the counter, paying her and grabbing their ice cream cones--vanilla flavored.

"Here," he said, handing Ohtori his.

"… Thanks, Shishido-san." Ohtori didn't like that Shishido-san had to pay for him, but wouldn't say anything against it at the moment--the upperclassman had his pride to defend, or something honorable like that.

They walked for a little while, before spotting a bench (mysteriously absent of a sleeping boy, actually, since it looked like a spot Jirou-sempai would have appreciated quite a lot) and taking advantage of it like the teenage boys they were.

"Uh, Choutarou," Shishido-san began slowly, almost carefully, and Ohtori looked up at him, "I didn't ask you out to play tennis today. Or, uh, even get ice cream." He held up his in a demonstration, perhaps.

Ohtori looked at him a little funny, "Oh. What else for then?"

Shishido-san waited a moment, and then spat out a sentence explaining everything, only not really, "I have a problem."

Ohtori couldn't help but chuckle for a second, "And?"

"And I'm lost. I have this… person… who I might, maybe, like a little more than I thought."

Ohtori stopped laughing.

"I wanted to do something for them on Valentines' Day but I got cold feet. Oshitari won't shut the fuck up about it too. I hit him in the face and he still laughed at me. Damn, I hate that guy." Shishido-san was glaring at the ice-cream and Ohtori thought it was melting faster than his own.

"Oh. I…" Ohtori didn't know what to say. How was he supposed to help? Just lend an ear? Somehow, he really didn't want to sit and listen to Shishido-san rant about some absolutely wonderful girl he was in love with.

"Look, point is that Atobe and that asshole Oshitari have been bugging me about it for a while now, and… I'm tired, I guess. Of not doing anything about it." Ohtori thought he knew what he was doing there now. Shishido-san was trying to convince himself to tell her how he felt, and Ohtori was kind of just there as emotional support.

"I don't think you should keep it from her then, Shishido-san. It's better to tell her how you feel."

Shishido-san just kept glaring at his ice-cream, muttering a, "That's totally lame," to himself.

"Shishido-san, don't you want to tell her?" Ohtori was a little confused, but then he didn't really like this conversation anymore. It was uncomfortable, since he had a feeling in the pit of his stomach of wishing just a little bit that Shishido-san might be talking about Ohtori himself, only how much of a lost hope was that, really?

"Well, yeah! But, I don't know. What would you do if I told you I liked you, huh?" Shishido-san asked expectantly, and any composure Ohtori might have had flew away like papers that escaped a fast moving car with its windows open.

"I…" How was he supposed to answer that? He couldn't lie.

Ohtori Choutarou wasn't the type to give out false pretenses.

Right?

"I suppose…" Why did Shishido-san have to ask him that? He didn't know! He knew how he felt, he really did, and still he didn't know how he'd respond to that! "… I would be... surprised."

Not a denial in that he'd be undeniably happy, yet not a lie. He hadn't even really answered the question. Why did he have sense of dread though? Maybe it was the odd look Shishido-san was giving him as he leaned in a little closer, and Ohtori suddenly wondered where his ice-cream had gone because he wasn't holding it anymore.

"Choutarou, do you like me?"

Shishido-san looked serious, but still curious and Ohtori closed his eyes, wishing he could shake his head like crazy in denial only he gave a little nod instead, eyes tightly closed so he wouldn't have to see the look of amusement on Shishido-san's face just yet.

He felt something touch his neck though, and he lifted his head and opened his eyes to see Shishido-san far too close to be safe and he couldn't even breathe. Every nerve in his body was going off like a herd of sirens and Ohtori could really feel Shishido-san's fingers slip up, curling into his hair on the back of his neck. He could feel the breath on his face now, and he realized how Shishido-san had gotten close enough to kiss if he just leaned forward a short centimeter--

Too late.

Shishido-san did it before Ohtori even had the chance.

Maybe this was a dream. Ohtori had had plenty of them, when Shishido-san would come to him like a knight out of one the stories his mother liked to read, take him away and they both lived happily ever after. Of course, in his dreams, they'd never kissed with such a reality set in. It wasn't a thought seeming to be real this time--he could feel it, everything, and it was too good to be true.

"Bit late for Valentines' Day. I'll use the excuse that it was your birthday, alright?" Shishido-san whispered, pulling away, still too close.

Ohtori just looked at him, eyes lost in everything that just went on, "Shishido…"

"No '-san', huh? I like it. Let's keep that."

Ohtori shook his head, "But… I'm confused."

Shishido just laughed, "I sort of, uh, thought you might like me so… I went with it. That lame?"

Ohtori smiled a little, still confused for the most part, but it was okay, because Shishido-san was his best friend and… somehow, he felt really happy. "No, it wasn't lame at all."

* * *

**the end  
**


End file.
